Special Service and Features
‘Every unit of blood saves up to three lives; Wide spread awareness required to urge voluntary donation : Prof. Subash
More awareness about blood donation is the need of the hour, said Prof. Subash , Head, Blood transfusion department , RGGGH, during a webinar on “Blood Donation, It’s significance, facts and myths”, that was organised today by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting’s Regional Outreach Bureau and Press Information Bureau, Chennai.
Speaking about the various myths circulating around blood donation during the Covid-19 pandemic, Dr. Subash,said that any person who is affected by COVID can donate blood after 28 days of recovery. “There is no scientific evidence that COVID is transmitted through blood transmission”, he clarified. Dr Subash also holds the charge of Joint Director- Blood Safety- Tamilnadu State AIDS Control Society, Egmore.
Irrespective of the first or second dose, 14 days after taking COVID vaccine, a person can donate blood, he said. “Even though it is safe, we advice the public to get vaccinated 48 to 72 hours after donating blood. According to him, for those above the age of 45, blood donation can be considered a mini master health check-up as various investigations like Blood Pressure, Haemoglobin count etc., are checked before a person is found eligible for donating blood.
Every unit of blood saves upto three lives and Widespread awareness is required to urge voluntary donations the professor insisted. : Prof. Subash
Various propagatory measures like camps are conducted throughout the year but the pandemic has caused let up in the number of donors, he said.
Founder Member of AnyTime Blood Donor Association, Shri. G. Venkat, said that before the global pandemic, more people from colleges and IT companies had volunteered to donate blood. But due to the work from home culture and also many other difficulties, the number of volunteers has gone down. The current situation is indeed challenging even for blood bank and medical staff, he added.
Pregnancy, accident cases, chemotherapy, liver diseases, heart complications, kidney problems and dialysis are the major health conditions which require blood transfusion. There is a need to increase the number of donors and the students need to be motivated to be a lifetime donor right from school level, he added.
Ms. V. Vijayashri, who had to arrange several units of blood for a close relative in an emergency, appreciated the willingness of several youth who selflessly volunteer to donate blood. Ms Vijayashri, who also teaches in Meenakshi College for Women, requested students to take the initiative of creating awareness regarding blood donation through social media as it has a wider reach. She also suggested that institutions like colleges could come up with creative posters highlighting the salient features so that the vital aspects of the need to donate blood are conveyed in a striking manner.
During his Presidential address, Shri J. Kamaraj, Director, Regional Outreach Bureau, Chennai, reiterated the fact that awareness should be increased at local body levels as there is a need for blood for various illnesses across health centres. He said that even smaller countries are far ahead with respect to blood donation, while in India, with a population of near 140 crore, not even 1 percent show interest in this noble cause.
Earlier, Dr. Sivakumar, Deputy Director, Field Outreach Bureau, Puducherry welcomed the gathering and Ms. Vidhya A R, delivered the vote of thanks. Ms. Gayathri Subramaniam, a beneficiary of blood donation, thanked the donors profusely for their timely help.
Dr. S. Subash, DCH, MD , Professor and Head, Department of Transfusion Medicine, Madras Medical College and Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, Joint Director- Blood Safety- Tamilnadu State AIDS Control Society, Egmore as Full Additional charge.
Shri. G. Venkat, Founder Member of AnyTime Blood Donor Association.
Ms. V. Vijayashri, Associate Professor, Department of Physics, Meenakshi College for Women, Kodambakkam.
Shri J. Kamaraj, Director, Regional Outreach Bureau, Chennai